Best Practices for Body Language

Your body language says everything. Subtle or blatant, body language is an instinctual thing that most people pick up regardless of the language they speak or the message that you are trying to get across. How you sit, make eye contact and hold your hands all effect the message you are sending across but trying to be aware of all of those elements is extremely difficult. Ergo, I tell people do not focus on how you are feeling but rather what is the message your body language is sending.

Below I explain more helpful hints to take into account when it comes to body language. If I’m missing anything, please feel free to e-mail me with your additions at SSaber@thepulsenetwork.com

It sounds simple enough: don’t wear green clothes on a green screen set. And that’s absolutely true. But there’s plenty more at play than simply keeping your Boston Celtics T-Shirt at home when you sit on a green screen set.

If you’re using a green screen for digital video production, you need to make it part of your planning for everything you set up on your virtual set. Your clothes, your props, your logos and anything else that you want to put in front of the camera needs to be seen, and needs to be seen accurately. Beyond that, any guests that you plan on bringing on set need to be prepped for this as well. There’s a lot of thought that needs to go into clothing and props on a virtual set, and it should be far from an afterthought for someone launching a green screen studio.

Want more? This is Part Five of a Five Part Series on using green screen for video production. To watch the rest of the series, click here. You can reach Nick Saber on Twitter @NickSaber, and you can reach Tyler Pyburn on Twitter @TyPyburn

One of the best ways to attract an audience is to give people inspiration. Fortunately, there are inspirational stories in every facet of life.

The concepts that provide inspiration in a story can often be very simple. That’s the case with Inspire21.com. In their own words, “Our mission is to provide ‘Inspiring words for the 21st century.’” In the case of another organization that tells inspiring stories every day, Trusted Sports, the mission is “Inspiring kids to thrive in life through sports by providing resources that get and keep Kids In The Game.”

Some of the best stories around are inspirational. And some of the best inspiration for your storytelling technique can come from the people who tell inspiring stories.

This is the fifth part of a five part series on storytelling. To watch the entire series, click here. You can find Butch Stearns on twitter @ButchStearns and you can find Tyler Pyburn on Twitter @TyPyburn

Designing an effective virtual set is perhaps the trickiest part of producing content on a green screen. The more complicated you want a set to be, the more details there are on the design end, and the more potential problems you’ll encounter.

When you’re making a virtual set, you need to first clearly define what it is that you want to accomplish. It’s very easy to get carried away and keep adding components to your set. Before you know it you’ve designed an entirely different atmosphere than you envisioned. In many cases, it’s best to simply embrace the virtual world, and use it to your advantage.

Want more? This is Part Four of a Five Part Series on using green screen for video production. To watch the rest of the series, click here. You can reach Nick Saber on Twitter @NickSaber, and you can reach Tyler Pyburn on Twitter @TyPyburn

When it comes to writing, one of the biggest issues I have come across is the ability for a message to become misinterpreted. If I am speaking to a employee about a task I want done I can tell, via body language, if they understand what I want and need done. The same does not hold true in a e-mail with the absence of face-to-face interaction.

One tip I find incredibly helpful in making yourself clear is to give your message, whether it’s an e-mail or blog post, a once over before sending it out. Reading the message aloud will help you determine if it sounds proper and reads like you wish it to come across. Watch the video below for more tips on effective written communication.

For the full segment on tips and tricks for written communication and body language click here also check out my blog post on spoken communication here.

Best Practices for Communication Basics

Communication is such a big part of life that sometimes the basics get missed. Knowing your audience, controlling your pace, being yourself, may come off as seemingly common sense aspect of effective communication and therefore most people over look them. As a business leader you will not get the luxury to ignore the primary elements when it comes to communicating with others hence why the need for a refresher is critical. On this episode of TPN Finance, I explain some of the keys when it comes to business and how to maintain those parts in your communication.

For the full segment on tips and tricks for spoken communication click here also check out my lesson on written communication and body language here.

Plenty of people are sharing content or telling their stories all over the web. Plenty do it well, and plenty do a horrible job. Someone who gets plenty of attention for the way he tells stories and engages with his readers is ESPN sportswriterBill Simmons. Bill has found a way to break into an over saturated market, covering sports, and find a unique way to tackle the age-old task of sports reporting.

Bill’s new website Grantland has targeted a specific audience – sports fans with an interest in popular culture – and has dedicated itself to providing them with interesting content on a daily basis. Bill has a unique way of telling stories and bringing the reader in.

What does this mean for you? Figure out what you want to say and who you want to say it to, and then find a unique way to do it. Whatever you decide is the right way to go about it is up to you, but distinguish yourself from the rest, and make sure to make your stories worth caring about.

This is the fourth part of a five part series on storytelling. To watch the entire series, click here. You can find Butch Stearns on twitter @ButchStearns and you can find Tyler Pyburn on Twitter @TyPyburn

Feeling the Message

Though the phrase “feel the message” definitely conjures up some pretty ridiculous ideas, I am not talking here about mediating with incense for four hours a day. Letting the message come out in your own voice is how you can feel the message. Any great orator has that ability to persuade with a message that fees as if it is connected directly from his brain to his mouth. If the message doesn’t become part of your heart and isn’t something you believe in, how can it persuade your employees?.

In part four of this series, I diagram why the vehicle is so crucial for the message.

Didn’t get a chance to check out the rest of the series, check them out here: Part One, Part Two.

Think I missed something on the post? What some more advice on how to innovate? Let me know by commenting on this post, or by reaching out to me on e-mail: ssaber@thepulsenetwork.com

Lighting isn’t exactly the sexiest thing in TV studio, but it’s arguably the most important thing. Without good lighting, all the best cameras, beautiful virtual sets and advanced green screen technology won’t save your videos from looking unprofessional.

So where do you start? There’s an incredible range of equipment you can use to set up lighting equipment for a live video production, from a few hundred dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars. Most people can make do on the lower end of that scale, as long as they’re doing it right.

“The National Storytelling Network brings together and supports individuals and organizations that use the power of story in all its forms. We advocate for the preservation and growth of the art of storytelling.”

These are people who are passionate about sharing stories and information, and who most likely have more tips for how your business can share its message than you can imagine.

This is the third part of a five part series on storytelling. To watch the entire series, click here. You can find Butch Stearns on twitter @ButchStearns and you can find Tyler Pyburn on Twitter @TyPyburn

Has your conference flat-lined? Are you not reaching the younger generation community members? How are you engaging with them before, during and after the event? In this webcast, Rick Quinn, GM of Event Marketing Platform at The Pulse Network, gives you ten actionable tips to creating a kick-ass marketing campaign.